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What is New Age Spirituality? To understand the movement, we need to explore four historical streams that combined in the 1960s and 70s: Western Esotericism, New Thought, the 60s Counterculture, and the adaptation of Asian religions in a western context.
00:00 What is the New Age?
3:58 Western Esotericism and the Dawn of a New Age
8:18 New Thought and Mind-Body Health Practices
12:23 The Counterculture and Detraditionalization
16:57 Americanization of Eastern Religions
19:33 The Mainstreaming of the New Age
24:04 Sponsor
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Fantastic video. This is going to be what I recommend whenever someone wants to know what "new age" is. I've been investigating it myself to try and better understand it from an academic angle and this is by far the best summary of the history and its components.
I unexpectedly triggered a kundalini experience while meditating with crystals in my twenties… It got a bit out of hand. I don't necessarily recommend it. A friend from college had to name the expérience for me as I explained to her an uncomfortable burning pressure had gone from the bottom of my spine to the top of my head.
I know how silly it sounds. It's probably a good thing I have a sense of humor, and I don't take myself that seriously.
The first crystals I felt during meditation were blue kyanite and golden rutilated quartz. Unless you are sensitive to spiritual energy, it should take a couple years of meditating with them before you consciously feel them. To me, it felt as though it was a buzzing sensation.
you made me think about how negative in itself the notion of decommodification is. These people were basically exalting in their new makeshift religions while there was a comfortable eonomic order that allowed for much more stability and welfare state than what we have now. And yet they didnt realize this, so when the erosion of stable employement and social security came with neoliberal reforms they resigned or started morphing their belief in commodifiable programs and subsricpitons. Pretty nasty
I find the term “Hippie Movement” is much more appropriate than “New Age”. That’s probably because of the retro perspective as it is now an old movement rather than something current.
For additional insights on this topic, read Camille Paglia’s essay, Cults and Cosmic Consciousness.
Basically cultural appropriation of Indian religions.
Would you make a video talking about Spiritism? It's a modern doctrine originated in France with Allan Kardec. It's very interesting!
If you want an in-depth history of the "new age" BEFORE the 1960s, I highly recommend Catherine L Albanese's A Republic of Mind and Spirit, which gives a sense of how pervasive "metaphysical" spirituality has been throughout American history. Also, one small correction to the above video: mesmerism preceded New Thought. New Thought pioneers such as Quimby were very influenced by mesmerism, but rejected its postulation about a magnetic fluid coursing through the universe and the human body in favor of believing that all of the amazing effects that mesmerism showed could be explained by the mind alone. The actual term "New Thought" did not emerge until the last couple of decades of the 19th century, long after Mesmer's death.
A course in miracles?
NEW AGE today with those so called influencers are all blah blah wooh woooh nonsense.
the military industrial complexity;
seems to like the new age movement;
even tho it must imprison everybody;
"Matured" is not the word I'd use to talk about what happened to the rebellious 60s. Pacified is a better word. Pacified and commercialized. Perhaps even co-opted. They sold out.
You said synthesis when referring to theosophy, but you didn’t mention New Age s being syncretistic. Why? No mention of “reductive,” why? Is Perennialism supposed to capture these two? Perennialism = Reductive syncretism?
Is there any connection to the philosophy of Nietzsche, Sartre and nihilism and popularity of New Age Spirituality of the latter part of the 20th century (as a reaction to material science and philosophy)?
As much as its supporters might dislike it, New Age spirituality is basically the sanctification of capitalist ideals. While most religions throughout history have preached the importance of community, the New Age movement puts the individual above all else, and I'm thinking that it may be because modern American society is so much more focused on the individual's success rather than the overall success of the community. Then of course there's the commodification of spirituality as you discussed at the end which even further denies people any actual agency in their quest to achieve whatever sort of contentment they're searching for. We have seen so clearly how rugged individualism leaves people feeling so so so disconnected from humanity, and it seems like many people get into the New Age movement because they are desperate for the community and sense of a higher purpose that the current systems deprive them of, and yet they are pulled right back into those same ideals, just repackaged with an "exotic" flair. It's actually kinda sad to think about :/
Good but too fast and plain narration.
Film rec: The Brood (1979), dir. David Cronenberg
Funny how such a counterculture ended up back at the values of the establishment.
It's a pity that so many practices have been lumped together into New Age.
I'm sorry, but so much of this is basic Hinduism. All religions have truth. Karma. God is the basis of everything, is in every thing. So, yes, you are God. And so is the other gal. Seed people = Hindu idea of the best people are anonymous and help keep it all going. New Thought – God is in everything – basic Hinduism, your soul, your atman or jiva is part of God. Thoughts affecting physical health – yes, thoughts are karma too and can create patters of wellness or sickness. They are even using Hindu names. Why not just label it, neoHinduism or American Hinduism?
I have a couple of family members who are Pagans who do some of this stuff (crystals, briefly experimented with Reiki, etc), so thanks for making this clarifying video 🙂
“New age” should be pronounced such that it rhymes with “sewage”
As someone who grew up in the 1990's in a New Age environment in Brazil, I'm kinda disappointed you didn't mention Allan Kardec
Bias confirmation. Only view what you think you already know. Maybe I'm wrong or don't really understand what I believe or think I know. This is why religion and propaganda are very successful. Irrational conclusions such as ' we know the Bible is the Word of God because it says so in the Bible ' . ?
Alice Coltrane popped in my head right before you got into that section of the video because you mentioned the word "Satchidananda" 🙂
This video is great. It's so cool to learn how things nowadays come to be. Now I understand why and how these kind of spiritual beliefs are related to psychology and eastern traditions.
Interesting… so the new age movement was connected to american consumerism & materialism. Well.. sh*t.. 🧐